Crims getting away

CRIMS hit shop six times in a year, front page and page 7 ( TB, October 4), Hospital violence spike ( page 3), Police car rammed Aitkenvale ( page 4), Police hunt Cranbrook arsonists ( page 7) etc.

The State Government would have you believe they are ‘ hard on crime’ and ‘ winning’ against the criminals, in Townsville. Yet we are seeing convoys of stolen cars not being chased hard by police be- cause criminals are a protected species. We see these criminals having accidents in stolen cars, then being picked up by their mates in other stolen cars, and permitted to continue on with their ‘ fun’.

We see nameless, faceless, youth being protected by the system, and encouraged to go on offending. We see revelations about ‘ spin’ being used to explain why ‘ promised’ extra police haven’t been supplied.

We see the hand wringing of politicians, and victim blaming where we are told to ‘ lock it or lose it’ because the criminal has rights – we, as normal people, don’t.

We are a statistic. No one pays the cost of the damage, the cost of increased insurance, the cost of the trauma, for a statistic.

We are suffering, and paying the cost of the ‘ rights’ over responsibility generation, with the namby pamby police ( restricted by politicians), with the namby pamby courts ( who are restricted by politicians), and no consequence politics because politicians can’t handle a ‘ bad’ headline for doing the ‘ right’ thing.

There is no desire to deal with little criminals, only to make excuses. The police have just become another cash making arm of Government ( look at the increased traffic fines), withdrawn from society ( no local contact with police by phone). The courts and prisons are now about ‘ rights’ for the prisoner, thanks to Government social agenda.

The pendulum has swung too far, and keeps swinging further out. If no one speaks this will continue to get worse, as the ‘ me’ brigade comes through. CHRIS EASTAUGHFFE,

Woodstock.